The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-12-17
might he roped in with gold brick

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1 had just come out of the fremont
House and turned up State street,
when good.Iooking young fellow
halted me. extended his hand for a
shake and exclaimed
"Why, Quad, old fellow, how are
you, and how are all the folks in De-
: trOit?'
l smiled. / smiled because knew
he was bunko. steerer. He had got
my name and town from the hotel
register, after the usual fashion. But
l shook his hand and replied that l
was pretty well. and that Detroit was
daily improving. What's the use of
trying to crush bunkO-steerer into
a lifeless mass without a word of
warning? Besides, wanted little
fun, and 1 thought I'd see how far
he'd go, Mind you, knew he was
bunko-steerer-knew it as we'll as 1
knew that l was in Chicago.
ppm awful glad to see any one
from Detroit" he continued. II sup
pose you see father almost every
day ?"
/ assured him that l saw his father
semi-daily. and that the old gent was
looking as happy as Hubbard squash
at fair time. This seemed to relieve
his intense anxiety:on that point, and
he invited me to have cigar. No
man who can get good cigar at the
expense of a bunkO-steerer should re-
fuse it. We entered gilded den of
deviltry, devoted to the sale of to-
baccO, and got our weeds, and as we
sauntered up Stale street we seemed
band OF brothers. 1 knew what his
next move would be, and was ready
for him.
We had not gone two blocks when
he halted and said:
"Ah this calls to mind. 1 bought
a lottery ticket the other day and it
drew little prize. This must be the
place where they cash it. Yes, this
is the place."
l congratulated him on his luck. 1
told him l had been buying lottery
tickets ever since the year one. and
had never yet struck prize.
SPY the way, come up with me a
minute" he said, as he looked at his
ticket. "These fellows may be all
right, or they may be full of tricks.
AT any rate, I'd like friend along"
l went. Who's afraid of bunko-
steerer? l was chuckling to myself
all the time, and was willing to give
the fellow little more rope. We as
cended to the third floor and entered
an office. There were two we'll
dressed men in there. They didn't
seem to know my friend, and he
looked around him as if he hadn't
been in that very room five hundred
times before.
"This-this ticket hit IA prize
yesterday, didn't it ?' he asked. as
he produced the paper.
Eyes, sir-three hundred and fifty
dollars" was the reply. "Jim. give
the gentleman his money"
1t was counted out. Then the gen.
tlemen explained to me that they had
daily drawing, and cashed prizes
at once. That's the way the bunko
game is always played, and nobody
need be taken in.
1 invest! Ring in on me an old
chestnut of that color! Take me for
granger from Posey County! But,
after little reflection, thought I'd
try it, 1t might be all right after all.
While they looked like bunko-men.
one can't always judge by looks. l
invested six dollars and hit a prize of
ten dollars. was four dollars ahead
and I'd give them the grin and walk
out, /. But if | invested the ten
dollars I'd probably hit twenty dol
lars, and-and well, invested the
ten dollars. lost it, but was assur-
ed that I'd have better luck next
time. knew that as well as they
did. No bunko-man can teach me
any thing. 1 invested ten dollars
more and lost. Then invested twen-
ty dollars more and lost. Then / put
in thirty dollars and lost. Then l re-
membered that I had agreed to meet
a man at the First National Bank
at ten o'clock, and babe them good
morning and tripped gaiIy down the
stairs. stopping at the door long
enough to ask them if it was good
day for suckers.
"Now, that's all there was to it.
and that's all the foundation that
Chicago paper had for saying that 1
was bunkoed. identified the steer.
err the moment ne addressed me. L
knew the Office up stairs was snide
the minute 1 entered it. l knew the
drawing was fraud. and therefore
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